STS9 / The National (Richmond, VA) / 10.30.12 [Review + Photos]

Published: November 9, 2012

Written By: Patrick Maguire
Photos By: Lyle Beckner

STS9 was back to their usual summer hustle, hitting all this summer’s liveliest music festivals. Sound Tribe stopped at Gathering of the Vibes, rocked North Coast Music Fest, and to top it off acquired one of the headlining spots at Electric Forest Music Festival with two performances.

This fall, Sound Tribe brought their Great Cycle Spectacles to the east coast with a stop in Nashville, then two nights in Atlanta before making their way to Richmond, Virginia for a Halloween spectacle at The National. Despite Hurricane Sandy hitting the East coast Sound Tribe was able to perform at each of the stops on their tour.

“Grizzly” was performed with an entrancing melody and David Murphy got really rhythmic on the bass during "Atlas” as paralleled by the turbulent flashing lights. Sound Tribe finished their first set of the evening off solid as they evolved into “20-12.” A conscious expanding upbeat jam, “Rabble” opened up with an electrified beat. Sound Tribe picked up the tempo about midway through the song as symmetrical geometric patterns were projected. The crowd really got down to this one. An electronically infused joint “Lo Swaga” quickly crescendos into a high intensity, fast pace tune. Sound Tribe quickly transitions into a dance worthy ballad “March” stimulating the senses with colorful trance-inducing guitar riffs. Seeing this one performed live left a heightened state of gratification.

A distinguishable factor of the evening was when Sound Tribe transitioned into “Moonsocket.” From the intro of the song, Tribe sounded completely in alliance as they turned up the heat. In comparison to other live executions, this version of “Moonsocket” sounded absolutely phenomenal. As they finished their show and the visualizer went into overload it displayed images that made it appear as though the crowd was traveling through the galaxy at the speed of light before Murphy asked of the crowd, “Do you wanna hear some more music out there tonight?”

Tribe launched into a delightful encore with “We will meet in our dreams.” Then they threw the crowd another banger with a vibrant rendition of “Instantly.” The song was layered with a trippy vocalizer that kept repeating the words “Instantly” and “Time.” Tribe grooved really intensely near the end as Zach Velmer launched an eclectic dub heavy drum sequence that gave the selection a strong objective.Sound Tribe cultivated an enticing sound on this particular evening that left the spectrum feeling a sensation of enlightenment. Sound Tribe will finish their Great Cycles Spectacles with their five day performance at Mayan Holidaze in Tulum, Mexico before finishing off the year with a New Year’s run in Denver, Colorado.